Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to backhaul estimation for small cells and the like.
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. In cellular networks, macro base stations (or macro cells or conventional base stations) provide connectivity and coverage to a large number of users over a certain geographical area. To supplement macro base stations, restricted power or restricted coverage base stations, referred to as small coverage base stations or small cell base stations or small cells, can be deployed to provide more robust wireless coverage and capacity to mobile devices. For example, small cells can be deployed for incremental capacity growth, richer user experience, in-building or other specific geographic coverage, and/or the like.
However, the deployment of small cell base stations may also encroach on the operation of other devices that typically utilize the same space, such as Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) devices operating in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11x communication protocols (so-called “Wi-Fi” devices) or other wired or wireless devices sharing the same Internet connection in a user's residence or office building. The unmanaged sharing of common backhaul resources may lead to various throughput and/or data integrity problems for all devices.